Today we are over the moon happy to be able to share with you a special Jesse POV from R.L. Griffin's By A Thread series!!
Curl up and get comfy, grab something warm to drink, and most importantly, ENJOY!!!!
Jesse felt a weight lift off him as he pulled into the familiar plantation. He hurried up the drive to the main house and memories of acceptance, friendship and hiding out overwhelmed him. This was his second home; Brian was like a brother to him. As he stopped the SUV, he glanced at Stella. Her demeanor was tense and he wondered if she could really do what she wanted to do. Killing someone took you somewhere you couldn't come back from. It made you turn in on yourself and question every decision you've ever made. It made the reflection in the mirror unrecognizable. She'd already been through so much; he hoped she didn't have to kill Jamie.
"We're not staying here," he nodded to the house. "There are about 20 cottages on the plantation, that's where we'll be staying."
Jesse stepped out the SUV and stretched his legs. "Ned! Sally! Bertha!” Brian was yelling from his golf cart, all decked out with lights and roll bars as he rounded the side of the house. Brian stopped directly in front of Stella. “You must be Stella. I’m Brian.” His battered University of Georgia hat that he was never without came off his head with one hand while he extended the other to her.
“Yes,” she said taking his hand. “Thank you so much for helping me.”
“No problem, anything for Jesse,” Brian said, grinning and then looked over at him.
Jesse closed the gap between him and his brother and they embraced. It'd been too long. “Hey, man. I appreciate you doing this. I know deer season is over so you probably weren’t busy, anyway,” Jesse joked.
“It’s rabbit season, man. Come on. You know how all the old men will make any excuse to get away from their wives for the weekend.”
“So...Where do we start?” Stella asked interrupting the two men.
They spent hours shooting shotguns; hitting and missing skeet. It was as exhilarating as he remembered. Jesse loved the skill it took to shoot skeet; the precision and foresight it took to hit something that was flying through the air.
"I'm starving," Jesse said as they were riding back to the main house.
“I had Nita leave us food for dinner tonight. Spaghetti and garlic bread, we just have to warm it up,” Brian said.
“Whatever, I just want to make sure there’s alcohol,” Jesse replied as he got out of the golf cart. He put his arm around Stella to gage how she was feeling. She was good at masking her emotions that were always rumbling right under the surface, maybe one day he'd be able to read her. Now, he just had to rely on what she told him and what she let him see. He guided her inside and sniffed at the familiar smell of leather and left over cigars. Again, his mind went back to the first time Brian had brought him here, they'd been in high school and Jesse had been in trouble and desperately needed...something.
He shook off the memory and joined the conversation about dinner.
“Oh, there’s salad, too,” Brian said, walking back to the refrigerator to pull out a bowl and a couple of bottles of salad dressing. He nodded for her to sit. “So, Stella. How do you know Jesse?”
Jesse smirked at her and winked at Brian. “Stella helped me get through the Congressional testimony last year.”
“Oh yeah?” Brian asked as he put the pans in the oven.
“Yes, I helped him prepare the night before,” Stella said, glaring at Jesse.
“You guys just hit it off?”
“You could say that.” Jesse offered.
Brian turned and looked at them. “You guys fucking?”
Jesse burst out laughing, Brian knew he didn't have girls as friends, so he wasn't surprised by his question, but Stella's face was priceless. “Not right now.”
“I’m just saying. It’s crazy if you’re with the ‘FBI Beauty.’” Brian said as he continued to work the oven.
Stella cleared her throat. “We’re not fucking. Would you mind having your guy conversation after I go to my room?”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I kind of have word diarrhea. I apologize. I usually have much better manners around pretty girls.”
“No problem.” Stella stood. “I’ll leave you guys to the re-heating. Can I just wander around?”
“Sure, Stella, I’m sorry,” Brian said. “That was really rude of me.”
“It’s fine.”
Stella left the room and Jesse watched her tight ass leave before turning back to Brian. "What? Just because I'm not currently hitting that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it." He shrugged.
"Doesn't she have a boyfriend?"
"Yep," Jesse nodded and opened a Bud Light that Brian had set in front of him.
"He's okay with her being her with you?" Brian asked.
"I'd say that'd be a big fat no." Jesse laughed.
"So you're just waiting for them to breakup, huh? Then you as the friend move right in?"
"Actually, no. Stella is amazing and maybe I was interested in that a few months ago, but she really is just my really hot friend that I've fucked."
Brian laughed. "Well, that clears that up."
They chatted about Jesse's season and how disappointed he was the team didn't even go to the playoffs. He and Brian knew each other so well, knew everything about each other. All of their secrets beginning and ending with the two of them, it was hard not to see the flashing lights and remember his heart beating so hard when he saw Brian's face, even with a smile on it. He was taken back to that day, the day that changed everything.
♥
He and Brian stayed up and drank over a case of beer that night, reminiscing. Carefully skirting over things they dare not talk about, that they hadn't talked about since his seventeenth birthday when they both got drunk and almost came to blows.
They spent the next morning shooting handguns so that Stella could get familiar with the gun he bought her. The gunfire echoed in his head, every single shot. The drive back to their cottage was quiet. Jesse's head hurt from all the beer he'd consumed and he could hardly hold a conversation.
When they got out of the golf cart, Jesse figured it was time to go. Stella thanked him for his help and the weekend.
Jesse nodded at her. “Not a problem. I got to hang out with one of my closest friends, drink beer and shoot things. I’d say that was a pretty fun weekend.”
He threw their luggage on the back of the vehicle and they rode the rest of the way to the main house. Once inside, Stella used some kitchen scissors to cut through the lining of her bag and Jesse wondered why she was destroying something she just bought. Then she slid her gun in between the leather and the lining of the bag.
“That’s pretty genius,” Jesse said, admiring what she was doing with her bag.
“Well, I did go to school for a very long time,” she retorted. She held out a stack of bills for him.
“Stella, I don’t want your money.” Jesse shook his head and put his hands up in the air. He was pleased she was actually trying to pay him; most people use him for everything he's got. This girl...was different.
“Come on Jesse, you’ve already done so much. Take it.” She thrust the money at him again.
Jesse evaded her and pushed himself through the front door, already missing the leather smell of the house.
Brian was waiting for them outside. He hugged Stella. “It was nice and kinda weird to meet you, Stella.”
“Nice to meet you, too, Brian.” She shrugged.
Stella got in the SUV, leaving them to talk alone.
"I hope you know what you're doing, man," Brian started.
"No idea dude, just trying to help a lost person like someone I know did for me a long time ago.”
Brian cut his eyes to look at Stella. "This is so different, man."
"I'm aware." Jesse knew this was different, but he also knew Brian didn't know Stella or her situation other than what he saw on TV.
"Be careful, let me know if you need me."
"I'll always need you, man," Jesse pulled him in for a hug. "Talk later."
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